Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

I never got leather in Miss Dior. I don't know what the new version is like (not so good, I've read here), but an older version of either is probably better than current form of the other. Pamplelune, you might like Miss Balmain better than Jolie Madame. MB is greener and less flowery than JM, as I recall.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

I remember a very delicate whiff of leather, like ladies' kid gloves, in Jolie Madame. Leather is more evident in Miss Balmain. And the green is more astringent in MB. I thought MB was a great fragrance once it got all sorted and smoothed out in the drydown. My preference, however, was Jolie Madame, but I'm a florals lover and I fell for the nostalgic aspect of JM, the smell of the inside of a lady's leather handbag, her perfume, a lacy handkerchief, a roll of violet candies. Very old fashioned.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

Give me a time machine to the era of expensively-made, sophisticated perfumes (especially Chypres) please!

Oh, foo. I still like Miss Dior. It's still weird and wonderful. Even in its modern form, it's better than many, many fragrances out there. It's a damn shame about reformulations, but I decided, years ago, to quit hoarding and mourning, to go with the flow and buy the new versions.

Jolie Madame has leather, yes. More like gentle suade. Yet it has dominant violet notes along with the gardenia, it's important to remember.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

Sounds like I might prefer MB - the combination of violets (already on shaky ground with me) and leather of Jolie Madame was just too nauseating for me. Will give it a whirl. Thanks all for your great descriptions!

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

Miss Dior.......Since reformulation it has no gravitas!......It has definitely lost its VA VA VOOM!
Now....Miss Balmain.....Still has a serious magic
with a touch of aldehydes and leather chypre...the drydown is magnificient.......leather...oakmoss and vetiver and god knows
what else.........I simply love this beautiful frag and would give it a 5.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

Hasn't Miss Dior not only been reformulated, but Pod Peopled? That is, the reformulated version of the original Miss Dior is now Miss Dior Originale, and the thing called Miss Dior is the reformulated version of the original Miss Dior Cherie. I think.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

I find Miss Balmain to be more galbanum than aldehyde on top. The leather makes it seriously badass. Love Miss Dior vintage, too; it is one of my most beloved genres—old-school civet-laden aldehyde. I could never choose between the two—and why?

- - - Updated - - -

I find Miss Balmain to be more galbanum than aldehyde on top. The leather makes it seriously badass. Love Miss Dior vintage, too; it is one of my most beloved genres—old-school civet-laden aldehyde. I could never choose between the two—and why?

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

Unlike so many, I really like the modern Miss Dior. It only bears a passing resemblance to the old.

The vintage cologne or EDT is a much richer and more multi-faceted than the modern, and certainly not as floral. There is leather, there is galbanum, there is civet.

However, beware, any modern ladies about buying the pure parfum in vintage. It's a civet monster that I couldn't come to terms with. The beautiful floral element was completely overwhelmed by civet from start to finish. I couldn't believe that I smelled like that in my 20s so I searched for an EDT like the one I used back then, and it certainly didn't exude this amount of civet.

I cannot offer experience of Miss Balmain, though from this conversation, it is one that I should put on my list of things to try.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

New Miss Dior (aka Miss Dior Cherie renamed) is nothing like proper grown up Miss Dior. I wear a vintage parfum as my standard and I love the fact that it's not floral and sweet and 'pretty'. There are way too many floral clones out there and the new version is heading rapidly towards them. I want nothing to do with the new version.

Re: Miss Dior or Miss Balmain?

The modern Miss Dior, the one I was talking about is this one.miss dior.jpg It has an element to it, that is reminiscent of the original, though, as I say it's quite different. I haven't ventured into anything in the new packaging. Miss Dior Cherie also was somewhat reminiscent of the vintage, though again, quite different. Surprisingly, some people I have met, have found Miss Dior a difficult perfume. I have always been delighted by the beautiful fusion of floral elements with base notes that give depth and 'oomph' to what would otherwise be just another floral.

That is essentially what has gone from the modern versions. The depth and complexity of the base notes. The current Miss Dior is very pretty, though not the challenging and interesting experience it once was. I do agree wholeheartedly with those who think it is still a very worthy perfume, a gem in fact, in the world of 'blah' contemporary perfumes.